Means for drawing off of circularly knitted articles



Sept. 5, 1950 K. SEMOTAN 2,521,258 MEANS FOR DRAWING OFF OF CIRCULARLY KNITTED ARTICLES Filed March 24, 1948' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ha. I.

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m iii x" 5 I Hm w" 2 lNVENTOR Karc/ Scmo fan 2 BY HTTVST Sept. 5, 1950 Filed March 24, 1948 K. SEMOTAN MEANS FOR DRAWING OFF OF CIRCULARLY KNITTED ARTICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR Karel Jemofan Patented Sept. 5, 1950 MEANS FOR DRAWING OFF on ciaoULARLY'; 1

KNITTED ARTICLES I Karel Semotan, Zlin, Czechoslovakia, assig'nor to Bata, narodni podnik, Zlin, Czechoslovakia I Application March 24, 1948, SeriakNo; 16,764 3 In Czechoslovakia March 31, 1 947 12 Claims. (once-150)" This invention relates to a method of and means for drawing off circularly knitted articles, more particularly stockings, with worked-in or integrally knitted heel and toe pockets, on circu-' la r knitting machines, more particularly doublecylinder machines, in which the individual articles of hosiery are knitted in a continuous string. In the production of such articles it is known that difficulties have arisen, particularly in'the knitting of a fixed welt, a separating course and the ribbed welt, which follow the toe pocket. In the methods and expedients hitherto known, with the so-called inner drawing-off devices, the presence of tow pockets has hindered the attainment of a uniform withdrawal of the knitting. An irregular tension of the loops that are being formed has occurred, and also of the needles and sinkers, particularly at the two mar gins of the pockets or pouches, whereby it has hardly been possible to avoid rupture. When knitting the initial row of the next article awkward bunching of loops or double rloop formations been selectively actuated in such a way that upon them, in a few courses, longer loops are knitted, in order to produce, upon the side of the hosiery opposite to a pocket, long or loose loops, and to do this immediately after eiiecting the production of the pocket in question.

This method however requires a special pattern device for the regularly repeating adjustment of the knitting cams, by which the needles are raised and lowered, and are also heavily stressed. A further disadvantage resides in the fact that after finishing the toe, for the equalisation of the take-off throughout the periphery of the needle ring, a large number of courses of normal knitting, so-called excess running-on courses had to be produced, which were merely useless waste, because they had to be cut off or severed when linking or binding of the toe of the stocking. Also the longer loops of these excess rows were liable to slip off the pushing-' up needles of the linking or chain-warp machine, then forming loose hosiery in the region of the chain-warp seam.

heads, and serve for drawing off particular parts of the articles, for instance the heel pockets of stockings.

Thus for --example an arrangement is known? which -consists-of a draw-off star with a flanged margin, which, after 'theknitting of --a heel or; toe pocket, descends for the pressing engagement with the latter. An injuryto the article, by the draw-off disc, which is" provided with rounded orfsharp tips-catchingin it; and by pressure-is unavoidable. Moreover owing to the presence of the pocket'the engagement'l of the draw off' star in the hosiery incomplete, and again i'n- Volves the formation o'f'a relatively large number of courses'of excessknitting, which causewas'te. An internal draw ofi arrangement has also: been suggested; which consists of an annular card-wire'banm which, afterthe knittingof one sideportion of an article, or; instance a heel pocket'or the like, by release of a pressure appliance, passes'within reach of the entire stock; ing portion to be drawn ofi, and continues to exert a I awing-offaction until themain pull again take's'fover t'he drawing} The engagement of the card-wire band on the? entire {periphery ofthe article is' disadvantageousin so faras the card wire remainsprematurely caught in] the'so'le-needle "ho'siery-, and thus hampers the'remaind'er' of the drawing ofi of fthe pocket; f'I-Iere'again'it isimposs'ible to prevent the cardclothing damaging the'hosiery;--;

Furthermo e an interns-1 drawing-oil ineans is knownwhich consists of a press thumb, having a circular-shaped and rimmed end which is dis placed radiallyoutwards,'for the purpose'of engaging iri-the" knitting above" the pocket that has just been completed, and drawingthe knitting downwards fora definite time'-.- Here again the local engagement-of the thumbor tappet' cam results in an 'uneveripulling of the sole-needle hosiery, so that there isagain the risk of rupturinglcopss i Some drawing-off '--devices have also become known in which steel brushess'erve for the in'--''- ternal drawing-elf 'oi the knitting, as for instance in French I? circular" knitting machines, "in which the individual"'brushes' are hingedly arranged side by sideupon a" ring, 'and' are lifted in suecession, to fall back again forthwith by theirown weight and thus re-engage in the knitting for the punpose-oidrawing it offl 1 Amongst these "internal; drawing-off device's there is also a construction for double cylinder circular knitting machines, the essence' o zwh z consists in the fact that the brushes, even 'before the beginning of the fresh stroke; are positively' lifted:"off Fthe' fabric,= in iorder toi'adapt themselves continuously and automatically to the additional knitted material. 'By thisarran'gement the little teeth of the brushes do not injure the material, but on the other hand they tension the knitting uniformly throughout the periphery. In reality however the material undergoes a roughening, which is brought about by the repeated changing of position and by :thesudden engagement of the :indlvidual brushes in the knitting. A further disadvantage resides in the fact that in knitting the heel and toe pockets, the knitting hanging upon the sole .needles and not increasing in length is also drawn ofl'by the brushes.

According to the presentinventionnallzthe d advantages here briefly mentioned-:oiVthmmethods and appliances hitherto known forditawing 1,

off circularly knitted goods, particularly stockings with heel and toe pockets worked in, which are knitted in a continuous string on .circular knitting machines, particularly double-cylinder machi s. an li -o v ted i ess mple mann r by drawing ofi the knitted material hanging on the needles and revolvin with the latter mainly in the, neighbourhood 1 of the l qp rthet arc/being formed, this procedure {taking the place-of the withdrawing of the ;entire string of rknit ing,was hitherto usual. the .mostadvantageous solution of this new method according to the inventionzit isproposedtoldraw ofi-theknitted material, ,in the neighbourhood .0f the loops that .arebeing formed, with the assistance .of bodies which rollupon one another .with simultaneous relative sliding of the contact surfaces of the bodies between which the knitting .is gripne I The main feature of the, apparatus Qr carrying but the method according -to the invention consists in two bodies having substentielly coni cal surfaces, between which "the material .is resilientlysripped- V *FI'he, main -.adve.nta,ge ,rof thesmeth d rand-of the device according to therinventionJanet-however tDxbe ,seen in thefact-that thektiittin i known manner is ,dr-awn oil? only i i-the ,regionof the finish-knitted pocket-or at a plurality of points -,on its periphery, .s imultaneously or qsuccessively, vbut in the fact that, in forming the .individual c rses of loops leach sloop rod or pin must run through a place ,at-=whlch .itis drawn 0.1!. -.u o ly and continuously. by i he mea ment oned, from its ass ciated cylinder need e, revolving in a. circle.

fine-embodiment of .the,inventibniszlllustrated byway vof example in th accompany ng drawns-shin which :R sur 1 s a iag ammatic/representat on.c two hos e y ms p duced i te rally v- ..n;aeula knitting achine.- with .e -.se .erine c ur id wit shortenediensth o -the 1exces .c rs

Figure 2 represents diagrammatically-the pretcrred a ran eme t of th iqpenative otatin on a bodies in relation tonne-another, which works in the sense of the present invention;

:Eisure J3 .showsin longitudinal section the sen- .egalarrangementsof interloradmwlns qif mcket,;C the lengthier theiexcqssnr running-soncourses tor a stocking, whichilattermay .bema- .in Figure 3, is arranged in the vicinity of the knitting needles and for-the most part in the upper needle cylinder I. In the lower needle cylinder 2 are provided normal parts of a known twocylinder machine, such as a sinker ring 3, enclosing sinkers 4, upper and lower sinker rings .5 and 6, and an insertion I for drawing on the knitted goods. In the interior of the known stationary drawing-off insertion "I is rotatably supported a bush 8, which, owing to its flanged rim 5 bearing upon the sinker ring 5 revolvingin a circle, is carried round by the latter.

The bush 8 is preferably equipped according to-a feature of the invention with a smooth surface of revolution [0, which forms the peripheral surface ofa truncated cone, and presents .to the knitted fabric 1 l revolving in a circle the bearing support necessary for drawing off. As distinguished from the known internal drawing-off devices in double-cylinde machines it accordingly obviates, by the arrangement according to the invention, the friction arising between the" stationary drawing-off insertion and the rotating knitted fabric I I.

The ,mutual local contact of the .oper-ative.revowing-surface of revolution l0 and the knitted material H bearing upon it with the operativefrusto-conical surface of revolution I2 of Eldrawing-ofi disc l3 causes rotation of this disc about the longitudinal axis Y of the'latter.

The drawing-off disc 13 may however alternatively be equipped with a drive of its own.

The longitudinal axis Y of the drawing-off disc l3, relatively to the longitudinal axis X of the bush 8, is located eccentrically and at an angle so that with the positive or automatic rolling. of the drawing-off disc l 3 around its longitudinal axis Y on the conical surface ID of the rotating bush 8, any arbitrarily selected point of contact of the surface of revolution [2 with the surface of revolution lfl, forinstance the pointainFigure 2, describes a curve, until it'arrivesatthe point shown in Figure-3. A particularly advantageous construction of the draw-off disc is illustrated in Figure 5, in which the draw-off surface 49 formed by an independent indiarubber ring 39, which is securedupon a carryingdisc 1H,;for instance by clamping it between the base'portion of the disc 4| and a screwed-in bearing face '42.

A ball bearing l5 fitted into the draw-ofhdiso I 3--is'fre,e1y rotatable upon a journal l6, whichis screwed into the bevelled :end of a holder 1:1. IIhe holder H, which is located in the longitudinalzaxis X of the bush 8, is guided in abush 2|, which is rigidly connected with a .fiy-off sinker ring l9 known in itself, and revolves with the latter. Upon a round carrying rod supporting the holder II isv slipped a cylindrically. coiled spring 2I, which bears with one end upon the holder I1 and with the other end upon a washer 22, which is located in the bore of the bush 5..

The necessary application pressure for the resilient gripping of the knitting between the surfaces of revolution I0 and I2 is determined by suitably selecting the helical spring 2I, which may if preferred be arranged even outside the upper needle cylinder I, for the sake ofeasier accessibility and to facilitate regulation of the application pressure. In this case the longitudinal displacement of the holder I! in the axis of the upper needle cylinder might be efiected through the medium of a one-armed lever, not shown, pressing with its free end upon the end face of the stepped circular rod 20.

Rotation of the holder II about its own axis is prevented by a rigid collar 23 secured upon the rod. 20, with notches 24, in which the end of a two-armed lever 25 engages. The lever 25 is rockably supported on a pivot 21 lodged in a longitudinal slot in a stud 26. The lower end of the stud 26 is screw-threaded, and is screwed into the cover plate 28, the position of the stud being secured by a lock nut 29. The engagement of one end of the lever 25 in one of the notches 24 in the rigid collar 23 is ensured by, a

fitting pin or a pin screw 30, which is secured in the lever 25, hearing against the wall of the stud 2 as soon as the operative surfaces of revolution I0 and I2 come into operative engagement with one another, as shown in Figure 3. Upon the other end of the lever 25 there acts at a suitable time, that is to say, before the beginning of the knitting of the heel or toe pocket, the off-set end 3| of a known lever, part of which is shown, which first presses down the rod 33, guided in the cover plate 28, and provided with a helical spring 32, and thereby also presses down a forked guiding piece 34 against a positioning ring 35, whereby a sprung throw-over cam member 36 is moved away from the upper needle cylinder I.

This device 3I--36, known in itself, for withdrawing the rib needles from the knitting operation in the upper needle cylinder, is utilised at rupted, and under the action of the previously compressed spring 2I the holder I1 is displaced downwards in the longitudinal axis of the needle cylinder, so that the operative surface of revolution I2 of the draw-off disc I3 is pressed against the knitting at the place where this surface bears against the surface of revolution III of the re volving bush 8, that is to say, along the contact curve a--a1. The draw-off disc I3, with the arrangement illustrated, is then frictionally. driven and revolves about its axis Y, with simultaneous relative sliding of the contact surfaces between which the knitting is held, so that it effects a continual drawing off of this knitting, the" length of which, in circular knitting, increases uniformly all round the periphery. The worked-in heel and toe portions, which hang upon onlyhalf the ring of needles, now also pass between the surfaces of revolution Ill and I2, rolling one 'upon the end of its stroke for lifting the draw-off disc I3 into the interior of the upper needle cylinder I, by the oil-set lever end 3I acting upon the outer end of the lever 25, whereupon the other end of the lever 25 raises the collar 23, together with the rod 20 and the holder IT. The accurate adjustment of the position of the pressure-applying or draw-off point of the two operative surfaces of revolution I0 and I2 in relation to the stitch-forming-latch needles that have descended in the lowerrieedle cylinder, as shown in Figure 4, is effected by rotating the holder I'I around its'longitudinal axis by hand. At the upper end of the rod 20 is secured a collar 31 with a pointer 33, which in operation indicates the angular position of the draw-off point, which is defined by the curve of contact 41-411 in Figure 2.

The device operates in the following manner: When the formation of the heel or toe pocket is terminated, the machine is changed over from to-and-fro motion to rotary motion. Immediately before the beginning of the circular knitting which now ensues, by means of the known device 3I--36, the rib needles of the upper cylinder I are re-engaged in the knitting operation, as the upward thrust of the helical spring 32 raises the rod 23. The engagement of the off-set lever end M with the outer end of the lever 25 is interthe other, and are continuously drawn off by them.

The method according to the invention, and the construction of the apparatus described by way of example, are distinguished not only by their suitability for the purpose but alsoby their simplicity and reliability, the costs of production and operation, as compared with the methods and devices hitherto known, being substantially smaller. The preesnt invention is also suitable for the internal drawing off of the initial courses of a piece of knitting, the number of courses beinggiven by the distance of the needles from the operative surfaces of revolution I0 and I2, without the use of the usual manually operated drawoff hook being necessary, by means of which the knitting has to be drawn off right to its exit from the machine.

The construction of the device is not restricted to the embodiment given by way of example, but admits of various modifications without affecting the essence of the invention. Thus for example a multi-system circular knitting machine also may be equipped with operative surfaces of revolution according to the invention, a draw-oil disc being allocated to each \VOl'kiIlg system, and the operative surfaces of revolution of the individual circularly arranged draw-off discs being pressed radially outwards against the fabric by an eccentric drive arranged in the axis of the needle cylinder or by corresponding rod-and-lever mechanism. Experiments have shown that with the new method and apparatus for drawing off the knitting the usual main draw-off appliance, which is arranged underneath the knitting outlet and the lower knittingcylinder, may be en-. tirely omitted. At the beginning of the knitting operation the original length of the knitting between th inner and main draw-off appliances is thereby saved. After the knitting on of a few initial courses of loops, which are drawn off by the device according to the invention, the fixed welt and the severing course may be knitted im-' mediately, whereby again material is saved.

I claim:

1. Means for drawing off circularly knitted fabric, particularly stockings with heel and toe pockets worked in, from a circular knitting machine, such as a double-cylinder machine, wheres, in individual articles are knitted in a continuous against one another so as to grip-the fabric at,v one point, and means for resilientlyursing the ing-off bodies being so arranged one above the other that their conical surfaces can bear against one another so as to grip the fabric at one position, the conical surface of the lower drawing- 01f body being smooth, the upper drawing-01f body consisting of a carrier disc and an independent indiarubber ring mounted upon the carrier disc, the conical surface being on the indiarubber ring, the bodies being so arranged that their conical surfaces can bear against one being so arranged that their conical surfaces can bear against one another so as to grip the fabric at one position, means for resiliently urging the bodies into contact with one another at the said gripping position, and means for separating the drawing-off bodies from one another at will while the machine is running, the bodies being; furthermore so arranged that when they rotate their conical surfaces roll upon one another and 10 also undergo relative sliding motion at the said gripping position.

12. In a circular stocking-knitting machine comprising upper and lower needles and an appliance for disengaging and re-engaging the upper needles before and after knitting the heels and toes of the stockings, two rotatabiy mounted drawing-oif bodies with substantially conical surfaces between which the knitted fabric passes, the :bodies being so arranged that their conical surfaces can bear against one another so as to grip the fabric at one position and means for resiliently urging the bodies into contact with one another at the said gripping position, means for separating the drawing-off bodies from one another at will while the machine is running the said means for separating the drawing-off bodies being actuated by the said needle engaging and disengaging appliance.

sEMoTAN, KAREL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,121,251 Ingalls Dec. 15, 1914 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,670 Great Britain 1889 

